'Destiny: The Taken King' expansion features: level cap to 40, weapons and items algorithm change

Twitter courtesy of Bungie

"The Taken King," the third expansion for Bungie's space-age futuristic shooter "Destiny," will introduce sweeping changes to the title that it will look like another game entirely. According to snippets from the September cover story of Game Informer, one of the most noted changes in the upcoming expansion is the level progression for players.

When the original "Destiny" title was launched September last year, characters could achieve as high as level 30. There are two major levels of progression – players have to level-up on standard experience points for the first 20 levels, and those above level 20 are determined by additional attributes given by player gears called Light. Bungie then increased the level caps for succeeding expansions. It was raised to level 32 in the first "The Dark Below" expansion, and the latest, "House of Wolves," further increased the level cap to 34.

When "The Taken King" rolls out next month, the level cap for Guardians will be further raised to level 40. In addition, the progression will be straight from entry levels to the highest one by accumulating experience points, and the higher levels will not be dependent on Light. Also, the weapons and items algorithm will be improved by Bungie to tweak player inventory. This will make spawning duplicate items and gears less likely. Player levels will also be taken into account when spawning items, and weapons, armor, and other gears will have level requirements for their use.

Aside from the changes, there will also be additional new features to the game. There will be an assortment of new weapons, gears, and other items for every class. In addition, "The Taken King" will unlock the Dreadnaught, a Hive tombship that serves as refuge to a new class of enemies, the Taken.

"The Taken King" will roll out for consoles on Sept. 15.